< 1 minute readYes, they stand on the beach, hurling a boomerang round a bemused kangaroo with Men At Work blaring out in the background, all the while continually telling you how rubbish everything is in England. No, it’s the other thing, grinding cricket opponents into miserable submission. 242-3 overnight becomes 551-4 declared
Continue readingAuthor: King Cricket
Otherwise known as Alex Bowden, a lapsed cricket journalist who has written for ESPNCricinfo, wisden.com, Cricket 365, The Cricketer and plenty of other places.
Links to some non-cricket writing and a bit more background here.
Shahid Afridi the right man in the right place at the right time does the right thing
2 minute readYou need two runs a ball. Who do you want at the crease? Of course only one nation are lucky/unfortunate enough to have the unusual, though not inconsiderable, talents of Shahid Afridi at their disposal: Pakistan. Midway through this match, we were thinking to ourself that this Pakistan side aren’t
Continue readingSachin Tendulkar – nervous in the nineties?
< 1 minute readNo-one in the history of cricket – NO-ONE – has scored more international hundreds than Sachin Tendulkar. 78 times he’s got into three figures. 78! That’s loads! So why in the name of all that is good and pure is he suddenly getting out in the nineties all time? In
Continue readingPhil Jaques surprises no-one
< 1 minute readThere was one other Australian retirement last year, Justin Langer’s. There was no real worry about replacing him, however. That’s not to dismiss Langer, who was as tough as biltong at the top of the order, it’s just that great Australian batsmen seemingly DO grow on trees. So Australia called
Continue readingAustralia’s new era lurches into view, wild-eyed and frightened
2 minute readThis Australia v Sri Lanka series might only be two Tests long, but it’s one of the most intriguing series in ages. That’s largely because there haven’t been any series in ages, but it’s more because Australia have lost the handiest half of their bowling attack. Glenn McGrath and Shane
Continue readingNick Compton and some other people attempt to break ‘Everest record’
2 minute readThat’s what the BBC say. What image does ‘Everest record’ conjure up? Are you imagining a group of people playing cricket on the Gorak Shep Glacier at 5,184m? No? Well, you should be, because that’s what they’re doing. (Actually, we reckon it’s the Khumbu Glacier – Gorak Shep appears to
Continue readingRob Key as various cinematic characters
2 minute readYou might think that early November would be a dry time for Rob Key posts, but you’d be wrong, for Robert Keyes was one of the conspirators in the gunpowder plot. Also, AP Webster sent us these, saying: “Apologies for the dodgy photoshopping. Sometimes it’s hard to know which of
Continue readingIndia beat Pakistan in Guwahati (and series prediction)
2 minute readBarely any international cricket to speak of for weeks and then they only sneak in the biggie. It’s India v Pakistan time again. It’s time to make flippant comments about players from both sides and hopefully get some vitriol in the comments. Even the biggest series has to be constricted
Continue readingPaul Collingwood and Graeme Swann engage in some combat mime sparring
< 1 minute readCombat mime is a form of theatrical art whereby two combatants battle one another by expressing certain physical actions without sound. Here Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann are locked in a stirring head-to-head, where both combatants are doing ‘the window’. Shortly after this picture was taken, Paul Collingwood opened his
Continue readingCarlo and Granville being conspicuously indifferent on the field of play
2 minute readMiriam says: Now that I know you’re still doing animal posts, here are some pictures I took of the cats a little while ago. I tried to play cricket with them, but they were uninterested. In fact, they were indifferent. In FACT, they made such a point of making their
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